Car-fender.



J. T. PULMBLE.

GAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED 00-12-14, 1912.

Patented Sept-29,1914;

III

IIIIIIIII/(II/II M m w w WITNESSES ATTORNEYS NORRIS PETERS CO.PHOTOLITHO" WASHINGTON. 04 c tions,

JOHN T. EULMELE, 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

CAR-FENDER.

Application filed October 14, 1912.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

Serial No. 725,635.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN T. FULMELE, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilmington, in thecounty of Newcastle and State of Delaware, have made certain new anduseful Improvements in Oar-Fenders, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in car fenders and it consists inthe combinaconstructions, and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a device in which the forwardlyprojecting frame of the fender will be tilted downwardly when an objectfalls upon the fender, thereby preventing the frame and the car fromriding over the object.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby the airbrakes are set whenever the fender strikes an obstruction, such as ananimal or a person, thus stopping the car automatically.

A further object of my invention is to provide a fender of simpleconstruction for accomplishing the above named objects.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specificationand the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming partof'this application in which similar reference characters indicate likeparts in the several views and in which Figure 1 is a central sectionthrough the de vice, along the line 1-1 of Fig. 3. 'Fig. 2 is a sectionalong the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows,Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view, Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of thedevice showing it in its folded position, and Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview of the device, the suspending members being omitted.

In carrying out my invention I provide a pivot rod 1, which is securedbeneath the floor 2 of the car. Upon this pivot rod is mounted thefender support, which consistst of the side arms 3 and 4c, the latterbeing bent at an angle at 3 and 1 respectively, and then being bentoutwardly at W and sk and forwardly again at W and 4:, respectively.

The frame of the fender consists of the two longitudinal arms 5 and 6and the transverse members 7 and 8. Between the arms 5 and 6 is disposeda roller 9, which may be covered with some soft material, so as toprevent injury to a person if the latter should be struck by the roller.If desirable I may provide a lug 7 which extends forwardly from thecross member 7, so as to support the center of the roller. In someinstances this lug 7 may be dispensed with.

Between the members 7 and 8 is disposed a basketoriapron 10, which ispivotally mountedon the cross bar 7 at 11. A similar fender member 12 ispivotally connected with the frame member 8 at 13 at its lower cornersand is connected to the chains 141 at its upper corners. Each of thechains 14 is attached to a portion of the car, such as the dash board15, at its upper end and at its lower end to a spiral spring 16, whichin turn i's'connected with one of the longitudinal arms 5 and 6 of theframe.

Secured to the member 8 are the bearings 17 for a rock shaft 18. Theshaft has a forwardly projecting hook 19, which engages the rear end ofthe pivoted fender member 10. An integral arm 20 extends rearwardly fromthe rock shaft 18, and is bent upwardly at 20". The upwardly extendingportion passes through an eye 21 on the arm 3, and is provided with ahead 22.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device theoperation thereof may be readily understood.

Consider now Fig. 1: In this figure the fender is sus ended by means ofthe chains 14, and the ront end of the fender is held clear of the trackby means of the springs 16. If new a person should be struck by thefender, he would pitch forwardly onto the pivoted bottom member 10. Theimpact of the blow will cause the roller to be forced downwardly so asto prevent absolutely any danger of the fender passing over the person.This result is insured by the construction of the device. It will benoted that the arms 3 and 4 are inclined rearwardly and then are bent atan angle. This throws the ivotal point of the fender in front of thegent portions, and therefore there is no tendency for the front portionof the fender or the roller 9 to lift. When an obstruction hits theroller, the fender must of necessity move downwardly, so as to bring theroller into close contact with the track along which it will roll.

When the person or obstruction falls upon the fender member 10, the rearend of the latter will swing downwardly and the arm upwardly. The head22will strike the valve stem 23 of the valve 24. The latter is connectedwith a pipe 25 leading to the pressure pipe which controls the brakes.The movement of the valve 23 immediately lets the air out of thepressure pipe and the brakes are therefore set.

It will be seen that the device acts automatically to stop the carwhenever'an obstruction falls upon the fender. It absolutely preventsanything from getting underneath the car.

The device is of simple construction and the few parts of which it isconstructed are not liable to get out of order.

It will be understood that while I have shown and described the devicespecifically,

I do not wish to limit myself to the precise construction described,since it is obvious that the parts'may be made of different sizes ormaterials or shapes as long as they conform to the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

I claim:

1. The combination with a car having an air brake and a pressure pipe,of a valve communicating with said pressure pipe, a fender comprising adownwardly movable portion for receiving and carrying a body encounteredby the fender, and means actuated by the movement of the movable fenderportion for opening the valve to let out the air from the pressure pipe,said means comprising a lever pivotally mounted on a portion of theframe, one end of said lever being arranged to engage the valve and theother end being disposed beneath the movable fender portion and arrangedto be engaged by the latter in its movement.

2. The combination with a car having an air brake and a pressure pipe,of a valve communicating with said pressure pipe and having a projectingvalve stem, a fender frame pivotally mounted upon the bottom of the carand having a body receiving portion pivotally mounted near the front endof said frame, a rock shaft pivotally mounted on said frame and having ahook on one side thereof arranged to be engaged by the pivoted bodyreceiving portion, an integral arm extending from said rock shaft on theother side thereof and being provided with an upwardly turned end, and ahead carried by said upwardly turned end and arranged to engage saidvalve stem for foreing the valve open.

3. The combination with a car, of a fender therefor comprising a pivotrod, a pair of arms loosely mounted on said pivot rod, said armsextending rearwardly and being bent forwardly, a frame secured to saidarms, a movable body receiving portion pivotally mounted near theforward end of said frame, a roller disposed in front of said bodyreceiving portion, and flexible members for suspending the front end ofthe frame, said members being attached to the car.

4;. The combination with a car, of a fender therefor comprising a pivotrod, a pair of arms loosely mounted on said pivot rod, said armsextending rearwardly and being bent forwardly, a frame secured to saidarms, a movable body receiving portion pivotally mounted near theforward end of said frame, a roller disposed in front of said bodyreceiving portion, flexible members for suspending the front end of theframe, each of said members comprising a chain attached at one end tothe car, a spring attached to the frame near the front end thereof, saidspring and said chain being connected together, and an upwardlyextending fender member pivotally connected to the frame at its bottomcorners and to said chains at its upper corners.

JOHN T. FULMELE.

Vitnesses L. A. STANLEY, SOLON C. KEMoN.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

